HYDERABAD: The Centre’s flagship regional air-connectivity scheme, Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik (UDAN), is struggling to keep several routes from Hyderabad airborne despite hundreds of crores of rupees in viability-gap funding (VGF). One in four sanctioned route sectors is either yet to take off or is no longer operational.According to an RTI filed by TOI Hyderabad with the Airports Authority of India (AAI), 14 of the 60 route sectors under UDAN are either non-operational or yet to commence. Of the 60 sectors listed by the AAI, 12 are marked ‘non-operational’, while two seaplane sectors have not commenced because the required water aerodromes are not ready.The stalled or discontinued connectivity includes routes linking Hyderabad with Vidyanagar, Jamnagar, Gwalior, Kishangarh and Gondia.The Hyderabad-Vidyanagar sector is particularly striking. It was awarded in the first round of UDAN in 2017 to a regional airline that subsequently ceased operations. The route was awarded again in 2022, this time to a Delhi-based airline, but the service remained non-operational.The proposed Hyderabad-Prakasam Barrage seaplane service, awarded in Aug 2022, also remains on paper. The required water aerodrome is yet to be made ready. The route was novated in March 2026 from a Haryana-based aviation firm to a seaplane operator, but the service has still not commenced.Sources said several UDAN services have struggled to remain viable, with airlines withdrawing from routes that fail to generate sufficient passenger demand. Low occupancy, limited aircraft availability and rising operating costs have made it difficult to sustain flights to several tier-2 and tier-3 cities, where demand for air travel remains limited.“To ensure continuity of services under the UDAN scheme, state govts have been entrusted with identifying and prioritising high-potential aerodromes, while airlines are required to submit business plans before award of routes,” minister of state for civil aviation Murlidhar Mohol said recently in the Rajya Sabha. He added that the next phase of UDAN would strengthen route sustainability through longer-duration VGF support with a tapered mechanism, giving routes more time to mature.Passenger traffic red flagAccording to the data, the number of passengers using operational UDAN routes from Hyderabad rose from 51,000 in 2017-18 to 3.56 lakh in 2019-20, before reaching 3.61 lakh in 2020-21.However, traffic fell sharply to 0.96 lakh passengers in 2024-25, before recovering to 1.6 lakh in 2025-26.Even after the latest recovery, passenger traffic remained less than half the 2019-20 peak. At 1.6 lakh passengers, traffic in 2025-26 was about 53% below the 3.56-lakh level recorded in 2019-20.Meanwhile, the govt has continued to provide substantial financial support to airlines operating UDAN routes from Telangana. RTI data shows that over ₹660 crore in VGF claims was disbursed between 2017-18 and 2025-26. The highest annual VGF payout was ₹141.50 crore in 2021-22, a period when passenger traffic stood at 2.39 lakh.Airlines changedSeveral routes initially awarded to TruJet, SpiceJet, Alliance Air and Big Charter have since changed operators. The Hyderabad-Kadapa route, for instance, was originally awarded to TruJet but is now operated commercially by IndiGo. Similarly, Hyderabad-Puducherry, initially awarded to SpiceJet, is listed as commercially operational by IndiGo.Many other sectors, including Hyderabad-Belgaum, Hyderabad-Mysore, Hyderabad-Hubli and Hyderabad-Nashik, have survived beyond their original UDAN period and are listed as commercial or non-RCS operations.
